STB Shujinkydink
Burning down in flames for kicks
(This is a long read and no TL;DR so just be warned.)
Hello everyone.
Lately ive been coming to the realization that my competitive career in Mortal Kombat is nearing its end. Not sure when, But i'm on my last legs. I've learned a lot about success in the last 10 years in this community. Here's some backstory about my competitive history that you may or may not have known to start off this thread.
I started taking MK very seriously in 2004. I picked up Shaolin Monks at a bargain bin at blockbuster(im sure a few of you kids are wondering what that is). That got me back into MK and i saw the commercials for MKD and got really excited. Mortal Kombat Deception was released and all i wanted was to be the best. Simple as that. Id do whatever it takes and at that time online was all we had. So i was always #1 ranked on leaderboards cause i did everything it took and i earned the reputation of puller, spammer, decliner everything. But i gave no fucks. I wanted to be the best and I would do it. By any means neccessary. But I eventually ran into guys like @Pig Of The Hut, Lord of the Fly, @YOMI REO and @Krayzie and they soon taught me about what being REALLY good at a game is about. Not just a ranking. I levelled up and tried to beat these better players but ultimately stayed just below top level.
Fast Forward to 2011. Watched EVO. First tournament I ever watched and was absolutely hooked. I wanted to play on that stage, I wanted to get that attention. That was my first goal and I would achieve it. Wasted no time attending the next big major which was Devastation 2011 and took 9th place over 280 entrants. I went there with the goal and intention of winning just one set, And I would go on to win matches against Tyrant, Alex Valle, and Showtime. Over the years ive taken my fair share of smaller tournaments and locals, but keep my consistant spot of gatekeeper throughout history.
MKX was my first true top 8. When I got to stand on stage next to greats like Reo, Slayer, Justin Wong, and Chris G. Not only was it a proud moment for me as a player, but that accomplishment was achieved with myself almost entirely running MK at that event, Northwest Majors 7.
Ive been to over 15 major events, countless locals and regionals and plenty of online events. Ive had the chance to commentate and be commentated. Ive been an upplayer, a downplayer and everything in between. Although i've never been a top player, Ive watched enough of them win and trained and played alongside them enough to confidently help you guys who want to succeed get a little higher level than what you are. If you are in a rut, want to get better, feel like you're training your ass off but not seeing results(this is starting to sound like an infomercial) than thats what im here to do. So few top players actually give advice about what else goes into winning a tournament, or even just achieving your goals. It really is a deeper answer than just being good at MK. So im gonna share what ive learned over the years by trial and error and advice given to me by players that may not be willing to talk to the general public.
1. Get tournament experience.
You can play as good as you want online from your couch or at a get together with friends in casuals. But once you get into tournament mode and your life is on the line you are going to shake. You are going to be nervous and you are going to have a REALLY tough time playing the way you want to play. If its streamed you'll go back and watch the footage and say damn...i never drop that combo. Or I never miss that punish. But you're nervous.You're scared of being blown up or judged, or you want to win! Thats part of the game and you shouldn't feel bad for wanting to do that. I reccomend entering every tournament you can. Every Local, every major that you can get to, and every online event. Online events imo are the most important because they happen often and have a variety of characters. As frustrating as the game can be online, judge how well you did and how well you played and really acknowledge how much of it was lag. Its easy to blame it but if you're an avid online player theres really no excuse. You know the breaks, take what you can from the situation. This is a big reason why the top guys are always the same at most events. They play in tournaments all the time, and can control their nerves. Even though they get nervous just like anyone who truly wants to win, they have the experience needed to put that in the back of their mind while they play and deal with the nerves after the match is over. Which somewhat leads into my next point...
2. Set realistic goals for yourself
If you're the kind of person who goes 0-2, 1-2 at most events, setting a goal of getting top 16 is probably not a good goal for you and is only going to stress you out as you try to achieve it. Be honest with your skill level and pick something that you're 100% confident you can achieve. You know you better than anyone. You dont have to tell anyone your goal, keep it to yourself. Share it if you want to, whatever helps motivate you. Try hard to level up, and set a goal before the event based on what you've achieved as a player. Example: ive never gone more than 2-2 at an event, my goal this time is to go 3-2. There are two plus sides to this. One, if you get to your 3-2 goal you've achieved what you've come to do. This will calm nerves and help you play better after that and let the chips lie where they may. A HUGE advantage, especially in stacked tournaments. Two, any match after that will be a relief and only gravy as you've already met your goal! Realize this wont happen overnight, you have to continually make progess and up your goals as you go along. Dont expect immediate results or you will get down on yourself.
3. Know your own personal tier list
Tier lists are something that the community loves to produce. People love to be right and this game in particular has so many good characters in it any argument can be made for top tier. But thats ultimately whats not important. Peoples opinions sometimes suck and are bad. What is more important is who you PERSONALLY struggle against. Everyone saw me struggle in ESL against Bread. I studied the crap out of that matchup and it was widely regarded that quan was a better character. But I know what my strengths and weaknesses are as a player and Ermac as a character counters all of them perfectly. So its not really a MU thing, as it is a Dink vs Ermac thing. You will find this a lot throughout your travels to the top. Everyone has their boss battle and you need to find a way to counter it, whether it be with a secondary, more exp, changing a gameplan. But know what characters give YOU trouble and try and focus less on what people tell you to fear and more about what you struggle with. No need to add more fear and anxiety to tournaments.
4. Dance with who you came with
If you play multiple characters do NOT switch at the first sign of a struggle. Sometimes things like making a bad read, or an input error or a dropped combo could have been all it was. I analyze every match I play as im playing it and talk myself through all tendencies a player has as I play. This takes practice but its a skill ive developed over the years. If i know for a fact I will lose a game, I will purposely coax a player into successfully doing a string or frame trap i know I can get out of just so i can bait and punish it the next game. This kinda ties into the last tip, know your tier list. If you have certain MUS you refuse to play cause you think they're really bad, take into consideration what your opponents experience in the MU is. Use certain things to test it. Can they punish Dvorah's spray staggers? Can they block Quan's NJP vortex? Do they know they can armour Flame Fists mixups? Test their knowledge the first game. Just because its a 7-3 on paper doesnt mean its a 7-3 to the players and you might play better with your character than your opponent will in the MU. Use a secondary only if you're 100% sure the opponent knows whats coming.
5. Pick a viable character
This is the least important of my tips in all honesty. Ive seen so much success with mid-low tiers. Especially in MKX where it is quite balanced(shoutouts to NRS). A good player with a mediocre character will trump a mediocre player with a great character everytime guaranteed. But if you can combine the two you are unstoppable. But if you are a goro loyalist and want to win a stacked major, I dont know what to tell ya. Prove me wrong I guess.
These are 5 things that I think will lead you to success from my experience. Hopefully this gives you more insight on what you need to do to get better. I troll a lot in the community, and I have extreme opinions and am not the best player by any means. But I care about the future of this community and regardless of your opinion of me I want to leave a good impression and help keep the competitive scene alive and strong by giving hope to aspiring tournament players who in all honesty, are the future of NRS. I appreciate the time you spent reading this and hope this inspires you to be better in every way you can. I would like to leave you with a list of the top 3 events i've been too.
3. UFGT 10 Injustice and Mortal Kombat 9 (2013)
The first Injustice Major. It was a transition we were all scared to make. MK9, a game we all loved and held onto was done. Injustice was the future, and would we accept it? over 250 people showed up to say yes we would. We see rise to new top players. Top 8 was comprised of people such as woundcowboy, TS Sabin, GGA Slips, and of course the Tournament winner with a character who was largely considered low tier for the life of the game, Chris G. This event also had the farewell MK9 tournament as all names were there to enter as well giving a hype tournament for both games that will be remembered for a long long time.
2. Final Round 2012 Mortal Kombat 9
This was THE tournament for MK9. Not a single one could top it. Everyone who was everyone was there. Rivalries were settled, upsets were had, and characters we never saw in top 8s made it in. The CD bros who were dominant for so long were eliminated early(by our standards). We finally got to see 16 bit vs CDSR, Dink vs CDJR, and the man himself who ran the whole event and put so much passion into it got to grand finals to fight the greatest MK competitior of all time in REO. Im talking about Pig of the hut. If you stayed for top 8, the support for pig was ridiculous. His home town, with all his crew behind him and the popoffs unimaginable. So much happened at that event it is truly my personal favourite event of all time.
1. Evolution 2015 Mortal Kombat X
This event had so many hidden agendas and implications and backstory its hard to list it all. First off, it was the first event for Mortal Kombat that we broke 1000 entrants. This alone was huge, being the second biggest event at EVO! Something we could only dream of achieving. This was the battle we all hoped for. Mortal Kombat vs Injustice. Would the injustice players be able to keep up with the MK players at Mortal Kombat? or were they one and done? Zyphox and Honeybee held it down for the Injustice side making top 8 and proving that Injustice was a viable fighting game. Is the UK free as everyone says? What about Canada? Wheres Canada? Upsets Galore. With names like Perfect Legend, Pig of the Hut, Blind Ducky, and Nivek being eliminated before Top 16. Top 8 was diversified with very few character repeats. Top 3 was the first international Top 3 Mortal Kombat has ever seen with Canada, UK and USA keeping the hype alive. This was single handedly the most important tournament in Mortal Kombat history and only tells of what we are about to achieve going forward.
STB|BBS Shujinkydink
If you wanna know about me as a person, give this a listen. Credit to @TakeAChance
Hello everyone.
Lately ive been coming to the realization that my competitive career in Mortal Kombat is nearing its end. Not sure when, But i'm on my last legs. I've learned a lot about success in the last 10 years in this community. Here's some backstory about my competitive history that you may or may not have known to start off this thread.
I started taking MK very seriously in 2004. I picked up Shaolin Monks at a bargain bin at blockbuster(im sure a few of you kids are wondering what that is). That got me back into MK and i saw the commercials for MKD and got really excited. Mortal Kombat Deception was released and all i wanted was to be the best. Simple as that. Id do whatever it takes and at that time online was all we had. So i was always #1 ranked on leaderboards cause i did everything it took and i earned the reputation of puller, spammer, decliner everything. But i gave no fucks. I wanted to be the best and I would do it. By any means neccessary. But I eventually ran into guys like @Pig Of The Hut, Lord of the Fly, @YOMI REO and @Krayzie and they soon taught me about what being REALLY good at a game is about. Not just a ranking. I levelled up and tried to beat these better players but ultimately stayed just below top level.
Fast Forward to 2011. Watched EVO. First tournament I ever watched and was absolutely hooked. I wanted to play on that stage, I wanted to get that attention. That was my first goal and I would achieve it. Wasted no time attending the next big major which was Devastation 2011 and took 9th place over 280 entrants. I went there with the goal and intention of winning just one set, And I would go on to win matches against Tyrant, Alex Valle, and Showtime. Over the years ive taken my fair share of smaller tournaments and locals, but keep my consistant spot of gatekeeper throughout history.
MKX was my first true top 8. When I got to stand on stage next to greats like Reo, Slayer, Justin Wong, and Chris G. Not only was it a proud moment for me as a player, but that accomplishment was achieved with myself almost entirely running MK at that event, Northwest Majors 7.
Ive been to over 15 major events, countless locals and regionals and plenty of online events. Ive had the chance to commentate and be commentated. Ive been an upplayer, a downplayer and everything in between. Although i've never been a top player, Ive watched enough of them win and trained and played alongside them enough to confidently help you guys who want to succeed get a little higher level than what you are. If you are in a rut, want to get better, feel like you're training your ass off but not seeing results(this is starting to sound like an infomercial) than thats what im here to do. So few top players actually give advice about what else goes into winning a tournament, or even just achieving your goals. It really is a deeper answer than just being good at MK. So im gonna share what ive learned over the years by trial and error and advice given to me by players that may not be willing to talk to the general public.
1. Get tournament experience.
You can play as good as you want online from your couch or at a get together with friends in casuals. But once you get into tournament mode and your life is on the line you are going to shake. You are going to be nervous and you are going to have a REALLY tough time playing the way you want to play. If its streamed you'll go back and watch the footage and say damn...i never drop that combo. Or I never miss that punish. But you're nervous.You're scared of being blown up or judged, or you want to win! Thats part of the game and you shouldn't feel bad for wanting to do that. I reccomend entering every tournament you can. Every Local, every major that you can get to, and every online event. Online events imo are the most important because they happen often and have a variety of characters. As frustrating as the game can be online, judge how well you did and how well you played and really acknowledge how much of it was lag. Its easy to blame it but if you're an avid online player theres really no excuse. You know the breaks, take what you can from the situation. This is a big reason why the top guys are always the same at most events. They play in tournaments all the time, and can control their nerves. Even though they get nervous just like anyone who truly wants to win, they have the experience needed to put that in the back of their mind while they play and deal with the nerves after the match is over. Which somewhat leads into my next point...
2. Set realistic goals for yourself
If you're the kind of person who goes 0-2, 1-2 at most events, setting a goal of getting top 16 is probably not a good goal for you and is only going to stress you out as you try to achieve it. Be honest with your skill level and pick something that you're 100% confident you can achieve. You know you better than anyone. You dont have to tell anyone your goal, keep it to yourself. Share it if you want to, whatever helps motivate you. Try hard to level up, and set a goal before the event based on what you've achieved as a player. Example: ive never gone more than 2-2 at an event, my goal this time is to go 3-2. There are two plus sides to this. One, if you get to your 3-2 goal you've achieved what you've come to do. This will calm nerves and help you play better after that and let the chips lie where they may. A HUGE advantage, especially in stacked tournaments. Two, any match after that will be a relief and only gravy as you've already met your goal! Realize this wont happen overnight, you have to continually make progess and up your goals as you go along. Dont expect immediate results or you will get down on yourself.
3. Know your own personal tier list
Tier lists are something that the community loves to produce. People love to be right and this game in particular has so many good characters in it any argument can be made for top tier. But thats ultimately whats not important. Peoples opinions sometimes suck and are bad. What is more important is who you PERSONALLY struggle against. Everyone saw me struggle in ESL against Bread. I studied the crap out of that matchup and it was widely regarded that quan was a better character. But I know what my strengths and weaknesses are as a player and Ermac as a character counters all of them perfectly. So its not really a MU thing, as it is a Dink vs Ermac thing. You will find this a lot throughout your travels to the top. Everyone has their boss battle and you need to find a way to counter it, whether it be with a secondary, more exp, changing a gameplan. But know what characters give YOU trouble and try and focus less on what people tell you to fear and more about what you struggle with. No need to add more fear and anxiety to tournaments.
4. Dance with who you came with
If you play multiple characters do NOT switch at the first sign of a struggle. Sometimes things like making a bad read, or an input error or a dropped combo could have been all it was. I analyze every match I play as im playing it and talk myself through all tendencies a player has as I play. This takes practice but its a skill ive developed over the years. If i know for a fact I will lose a game, I will purposely coax a player into successfully doing a string or frame trap i know I can get out of just so i can bait and punish it the next game. This kinda ties into the last tip, know your tier list. If you have certain MUS you refuse to play cause you think they're really bad, take into consideration what your opponents experience in the MU is. Use certain things to test it. Can they punish Dvorah's spray staggers? Can they block Quan's NJP vortex? Do they know they can armour Flame Fists mixups? Test their knowledge the first game. Just because its a 7-3 on paper doesnt mean its a 7-3 to the players and you might play better with your character than your opponent will in the MU. Use a secondary only if you're 100% sure the opponent knows whats coming.
5. Pick a viable character
This is the least important of my tips in all honesty. Ive seen so much success with mid-low tiers. Especially in MKX where it is quite balanced(shoutouts to NRS). A good player with a mediocre character will trump a mediocre player with a great character everytime guaranteed. But if you can combine the two you are unstoppable. But if you are a goro loyalist and want to win a stacked major, I dont know what to tell ya. Prove me wrong I guess.
These are 5 things that I think will lead you to success from my experience. Hopefully this gives you more insight on what you need to do to get better. I troll a lot in the community, and I have extreme opinions and am not the best player by any means. But I care about the future of this community and regardless of your opinion of me I want to leave a good impression and help keep the competitive scene alive and strong by giving hope to aspiring tournament players who in all honesty, are the future of NRS. I appreciate the time you spent reading this and hope this inspires you to be better in every way you can. I would like to leave you with a list of the top 3 events i've been too.
3. UFGT 10 Injustice and Mortal Kombat 9 (2013)
The first Injustice Major. It was a transition we were all scared to make. MK9, a game we all loved and held onto was done. Injustice was the future, and would we accept it? over 250 people showed up to say yes we would. We see rise to new top players. Top 8 was comprised of people such as woundcowboy, TS Sabin, GGA Slips, and of course the Tournament winner with a character who was largely considered low tier for the life of the game, Chris G. This event also had the farewell MK9 tournament as all names were there to enter as well giving a hype tournament for both games that will be remembered for a long long time.
2. Final Round 2012 Mortal Kombat 9
This was THE tournament for MK9. Not a single one could top it. Everyone who was everyone was there. Rivalries were settled, upsets were had, and characters we never saw in top 8s made it in. The CD bros who were dominant for so long were eliminated early(by our standards). We finally got to see 16 bit vs CDSR, Dink vs CDJR, and the man himself who ran the whole event and put so much passion into it got to grand finals to fight the greatest MK competitior of all time in REO. Im talking about Pig of the hut. If you stayed for top 8, the support for pig was ridiculous. His home town, with all his crew behind him and the popoffs unimaginable. So much happened at that event it is truly my personal favourite event of all time.
1. Evolution 2015 Mortal Kombat X
This event had so many hidden agendas and implications and backstory its hard to list it all. First off, it was the first event for Mortal Kombat that we broke 1000 entrants. This alone was huge, being the second biggest event at EVO! Something we could only dream of achieving. This was the battle we all hoped for. Mortal Kombat vs Injustice. Would the injustice players be able to keep up with the MK players at Mortal Kombat? or were they one and done? Zyphox and Honeybee held it down for the Injustice side making top 8 and proving that Injustice was a viable fighting game. Is the UK free as everyone says? What about Canada? Wheres Canada? Upsets Galore. With names like Perfect Legend, Pig of the Hut, Blind Ducky, and Nivek being eliminated before Top 16. Top 8 was diversified with very few character repeats. Top 3 was the first international Top 3 Mortal Kombat has ever seen with Canada, UK and USA keeping the hype alive. This was single handedly the most important tournament in Mortal Kombat history and only tells of what we are about to achieve going forward.
STB|BBS Shujinkydink
If you wanna know about me as a person, give this a listen. Credit to @TakeAChance
